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Illinois Public Media

Kerry: Tests Indicate Sarin Used In Syria

September 01, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry says that tests have shown evidence of Syria's use of the chemical agent sarin in an attack on the opposition last month that the White House has blamed on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"I can share with you today that blood and hair samples that have come to us through an appropriate chain of custody from East Damascus, from first responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin," Kerry told CNN on Sunday.

"Each day that goes by, this case is even stronger," he said on the cable network's State of the Union program.

Kerry said the U.S. obtained the samples "independently," giving no indication the results came from the United Nations chemical weapons inspectors, who left Syria with samples on Saturday.

The U.N. has not said how long it would take to test its samples, but speaking on Saturday, a spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon suggested it might be days or a week.

Kerry said "we have confidence" that Congress will authorize the use of force against Syria.

"They are good people in the Congress," he tells CNN. "Politically, it's been difficult, but this is a matter of national security, it's a matter of the credibility of the United States of America, it's a matter of upholding the interests of our allies and friends in the region."

Update At 10:10 a.m. ET:

Reuters reports that Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is quoted by the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency on Sunday as saying Syria, an ally of Iran, had used chemical weapons:

"The people have been the target of chemical attacks by their own government and now they must also wait for an attack by foreigners," Rafsanjani said, according to ILNA.